SENIORITIS: WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO SOLVE IT

The first use of “senioritis” in a school context was, according to Google Books, in 1907 by the Chicago Alumni Magazine. It calls senioritis “a form of melancholia [that] breeds a strange, yearning sensation in the region of the heart,” adding that “it stimulates the imagination and strengthens the memory to the extent that many past events of college life are made to stand out vividly and impressively.” The magazine defines senioritis completely differently than we do today. Psychologist Ruth Strang has another definition in her 1945 book The Role of Teachers in Personnel Work, writing, “and from the standpoint of the rest of the school, especially pupils in the lower grades, it was obvious that the seniors were overwhelmed with a feeling of their own importance. To this epidemic the other students gave the name ‘senioritis.’”

“[Senioritis] is largely characterized by both mental health as well as an individual’s surroundings,” writes Anna Pogacnik, senior staff writer at Hubbard High School. “Psychologists have often described this state of disinterest as ‘situational depression’ that tends to affect people differently based on their levels of dopamine, a type of neurotransmitter within the brain.”

A Vanderbilt University study found that those willing to work for rewards have more dopamine in brain areas that have to do with reward and motivation, and those less willing to work for rewards have more dopamine in brain areas that have to do with emotion and risk perception. So senioritis is based in psychology.

But does it have a cure? In psychology, there are two kinds of motivation and reward. There are intrinsic rewards, or rewards that come from inside, like fun or satisfaction. Then, there are external extrinsic rewards, which are rewards from the outside world, such as money, praise and good grades. Both can come from a single activity: for example, a student might be extrinsically motivated to do school work ("If I finish this assignment, I'll get a good grade), but they may also be intrinsically motivated to do the same work ("If I do this assignment, I'll learn a lot). But sometimes, these motivations just aren't enough to encourage someone to do their best. In a student's senior year of high school, this phenomenon becomes more apparent: why do your schoolwork when you're months away from leaving high school forever?

If you're lacking the motivation to complete your schoolwork, one solution is to try to motivate yourself intrinsically, not extrinsically. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, instead of thinking, "I have to do all of these assignments or I'm going to fail this class," try to reframe it as "after I complete these assignments, I'll know so much more about the subject." Choose subjects that interest you, or make the learning more fun with challenges or games like Kahoot or something of your own design. Alternatively, you could attach more tangible extrinsic rewards to school work. Set goals to reach in your work and give yourself a reward, like a day out with friends or some time to play video games, when you reach them. Planning out your work can make it much more manageable – after all, the senior project portfolio can’t be done in one day. And sometimes, the most important thing is taking a genuine break. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed or burnt out.